Shutter control mechanism for moving picture projectors



March 17, 1942. KINDELMANN ET AL 2,216,658

I SHUTTER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE PROJEGTORS .Filed Aug. 5, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ALBERT KINUELMANN BY ALQ EOECKING M 40 Mg ATTO RNEY.

March 1942- A. KINDELMANN ETAL 7 SHUTTER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE PROJECTORS Filed Aug. 5, 1958 s Sheets-Sheet 2 zvmvroks ALBERT IfINDELMANN E ALB BOECKING A TTORNEY .March 17, 1942. A, KINDELMANN ET AL 2,276,658

SEUTTER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE'PROJECTORS Filed Aug. 5, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORS j L RT KINDELMANN y EWALD BOECIIINE ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 1 7, 1942 I s PATENT OFFICE SHUTTER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE PROJECTORS Albert Kindelmann, Floral Park, and Ewald Boecking, Great Kills, N. Y., assignors to International ProjectorCorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 5,1938, Serial No. 223,195

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a shutter control mechanism for moving picture projections and consists of means whereby the shutter is raised so as to permit the beam of light from the arc lamp to pass through the film only when-the revolving shutters are rotating at normal operating speed and when the film is being properly fed. Conversely stated, the fire shutter is dropped, cutting off the beam of light if the machine is operating below a predetermined speed, or in case the film should break at a point below the continuous feed sprocket and above the intermittent sprocket.

The beam of light used in projecting is passed through the filmand at the point where this beam of light passes through the 'film there is considerable heat which has originated' in the arc lamp. If for any reason, this film should move too slowly through this beam of light there would be danger of the film catching on fire or being ignited. It might move too slowly through the beam of light if the machine were operating at a low speed. It is, therefore, one of the objects of the invention to drop the fire shutter or cause the same to be dropped in case the film is not being fed at a velocity considerably abov a predetermined minimum.

In case the film should stop in the beam of light, it is necessary to cut off the said beam of light by dropping the fire shutter. There are various accidents which might result in a stoppage of the film. For instance. on old film the spaces between the sprocket holes may be torn or damaged so that the intermittent sprocket would not properly feed the film and as a result the film stops. The film might conceivably tear in two below the point where it has passed through the beam of light and before it has reached the intermittent sprocket. In such a case the film would stop in the beam of light. We have provided mechanism whereby in any case where the film is stopped the fire shutter would be released and would cut off the beam of light and shield the film from the heat of the arc lamp so as no fire would result.

Another object of the invention is to provide one fire shutter which is controlled either by a velocity controlled mechanism or by an arched shield which is actuated by the filmpiling up as a result of being improperly fed or not fed at all by the intermittent sprocket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel governor controlled by the velocity of the rotating parts of the machine, or more specifical- 1y, controlled by the shaft on which the rotating shutter or shutters are mounted. This governor is a novel construction and eliminates the requirement of having considerable space in which revolving weighted arms might move outwardly.

In our improved governor there are no arms adapted to move outwardly and upwardly asin conventional governors.

Other objects and advantages of the invention I will appear in the detailed specification and claims which follow. v

The invention may be better understood by referring to the drawings in which we have attempted to show one form of embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the governor and its associated parts showing the parts in the position in which they would be when the rotating shutter shaft is stationary,

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts in the position in which they would be when the shutter shaft is rotating at normal operating velocity,

Fig. 3 is a view partially in cross section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the governor taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the fire shutter and its controlling mechanism, the parts being shown in the position in which they would be when the shutter is raised so as not to cut off the beam of light,

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the parts in the position in which they would be when the shutter is down, cutting off the beam of light. In this figure the shutter has been released by the film piling up against the film controlled mechanism,

Fig. 7 is a detail view partly in cross section on the line 'l"! of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the parts in the position in which they would be when the film. is being properly fed,

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 but taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6,

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing. the shutter in its down position cutting oil the beam of light, it having been moved to its down position by the ring governor rotating at too slow a speed, and v Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 but taken at right angles thereto.

In the drawings like reference characters indicate'the same parts in the several views.

We have provided a rotatable shutter shaft I which is mounted in a ball-bearing assembly 2 carried by the frame 3. The shutter shaft I is operated by the main driving mechanism of the projector and, except in the case of an accident, it rotates at substantially uniform velocity. On it are mounted the conventional shutters which cut oif the beam of light when the film is being intermittently fed. Inasmuch as these shutters form no part of the present invention they are not shown in the drawings.

A collar 4 is secured to the'shaft I by means of a screw passing through the said collar and shaft. This collar is internally cored for a portion of its length thereby forming a hollow sleeve 6 into which projects a slidable sleeve I, which sleeve is slidable on the shaft I. The sleeve 6 is provided with oppositely extending fingers 8 and 9, said fingers being on diametrically opposite sides of the sleeve 6. The sleeve 6 is provided with longitudinally extending slots I6 and II on opposite sides of the shaft I and spaced 90 from the mid-points of the fingers 6 and 9, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Pins I2 and I3 extend through a ring governor I4, through the slots I6 and II respectively and into the sleev 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The ring governor I4 is provided with a pin I5 which is at all times in contact with the side of the finger 8 next to the ball bearing assembly 2 and it is also provided with a pin I6 diametrically opposite from the pin I5, which pin I6 sometimes engages th finger 9 as is shown in Fig. 2, and sometimes does not as is shown in Fig. 1. When the shaft I is rotating at itsnormal speed, the pin I6 should engage the finger 9, but on the side opposite from the ball bearing assembly 2, but when the shaft is stationary the parts assume the position shown in Fig. l in which the pin I6 is spaced a considerable distance from the finger 6.

The sleeve 1 is provided with two spaced flanges I1 and I8 and between these flanges is a roller I9 carried on an arbor 26 carried by a lever 2|, pivoted to the frame of the machine on a pivot shaft 22. Also secured to this pivot shaft 22 is a boss 23 which carries a lever 24.

When the shaft I is at rest, a spring 25 interposed between the end of the sleeve 6 and the flange I8 urges the sleeve 1 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, so that the said lever 24 is raised or rotated clockwise and is held in this position. When the shaft I is rotated at normal speed, the ring governor moves from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 compressing the spring 25 and moving the lever 24 in a counter-clockwise direction, which means that the end thereof is lowered.

If the ring governor were composed of a solid ring of metal, it would tend to assume the position shown in Fig. 2 when the shaft was rotated, but this tendency would be resisted by the spring 25. In order to increase the force tending to,

move the governor into a plane perpendicular to the shaft I, we have provided four holes 26 extending from the side opposite the ball bearing assembly 2 approximately through one-half the thickness of the ring. All of these holes 26 on the said side of the ring governor are on one-half of the complete circle of the ring and similar holes 2'! extend from the opposite side of the ring which holes 21 are on the remaining one-half of the ring. Of course, there is no particular upper or lower position of any part of the ring for it rotates, but in order to make the explanation in regard to these holes clearer, let us assume that the ring was stationary. The holes 26 would extend in the upper half of the ring governor from the side opposite the ball bearing assembly approximately half way through the same, while the holes 21 would be in the bottom half of the ring governor and would extend through approximately one-half of the thickness of the said ring governor. The upper half and the lower half ofthe ring, therefore, have the same mass, but it will be noted that if you would cut the governor into two parts on substantially the line 4-4, Fig. 2, the upper and lower portions of each of these halves would then be of a considerably different mass. Since centrifugal force is proportional to mass times velocity and since the mass of the upper portion of the ring as shown in Fig. 4 would be greater on the side nearest the ball bearing assembly, the centrifugal force of the upper portion of the ring would be greater on the side nearest the ball bearing assembly, thereby tending to force the ring from the position shown in Fig. 1 to its upright position as shown I in Fig. 2, and since the portion of the ring at the bottom has a less mass on the side opposite the ball bearing assembly than it has on th side nearest the ball bearing assembly, the ring would be powerfully urged into its upright position as shown in Fig. 2. By this construction the governor will assume a position perpendicular to its shaft in spite of the spring 25. As heretofore stated, we are using the expressions, upper portion of the ring and lower portion of the ring only for purposes of illustration for there is no particular upper portion of the ring or lower portion of the ring for the ring rotates but the same facts will hold true regardless of what position the ring may at that instant occupy.

Of course, the pin I5 always bears against the finger 6 by the action of the spring 25 and the pin I6 would be moved by the spring 25 away from the finger 9 when the shaft I is not rotating, but would be moved by centrifugal force into engagement with the finger 9 when the shaft I is rotating at its normal velocity. A stop 66 is arms 29 of a lever 36 pivoted to the framework of the machine on a pivot pin 3|. The lever 36 extends beyond the pivot pin 3I' and is offset forming an arm 32, which arm is bent so as to extend parallel to the lever 36 and this parallel portion is denoted by the reference character 33. Secured to the part 33 is a plate 34 carrying an inwardly extending tubular part 35 extending through an aperture in the part 33. An arm 36 is secured to the lever 36 and extends inwardly beyond the pivot pin 3| forming an arm 31. The arm 36 and lever 36 being secured together form, in effect, one lever, and this lever is hereinafter referred to as the speed responsive lever. A slidable pin 38 extends through a hole in the arm 31 and projects into the tubular part 35. It is provided with an enlarged ring 39 against which presses a spiral spring 46, the other end of which presses against the part 33,

A fire shutter M is carried by a shield 42 which is integral with an arm 43 pivoted on a pivot pin 44. The arm 33 carries a pin 45 which is pivoted to a bar 46 which is provided with a slot 41 which at its lower end terminates in an enlarged circular aperture 48.

When the shaft I is not rotating, the lever 24 will be in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 9 and the enlarged ring 38would be received within the circular aperture 48. If the machine is now arm 28 of the lever 38 and would depress the end of the arm and raise its inner end carrying the slidable pin 38 upwardly. The enlarged ring 39 would be seated in the circular aperture 48 and the bar 45 would, therefore, be raised, raising the fire shutter 4| into the position shown in Fig. 5. If, however, the shaft I were slowed down, it would have an ever increasing tendency to resume theposition shown in Fig. 1 for its centrifugal action depends upon the square of the velocity. The tension of the spring 25 is such that if the shaft I materially slowed down, the lever 24 would be raised, which would raise the left hand end of the lever 30 as viewed in Fig. 5, lowering its inner end together with the pin 38, resulting in the fire shutter dropping and closing the aperture 49 through which projects the light from the arc lamp, not shown, which light then passes through the film. It is, therefore, apparent that if the film is being fedtoo slowly that there is danger of it catching on fire and the fire shutter will be dropped and it will automatically be raised when the film is again being fed at its normal operating velocity.

Referring to Fig. 10, the film 50 passes downwardly from a supply reel, not shown. It is fed continuously by a continuously rotating sprocket 5| passing beneath the said sprocket and above a guide 52. After passing the said continuously operating sprocket 5I it should form a loop 53 before passing through the film gate assembly 54, After passing the film gate assembly it passes an intermittently operated sprocket 55.

The operating means for the continuously rotating sprocket and the intermittent sprocket are not shown as such mechanism is well understood in the art. The film will pass the aperture 49 near the lower portion of the film gate assembly. If the part of the film containing the sprocket holes should be damaged so that the film would not be intermittently fed by the intermittent sprocket 55, the result would be that the film would be stationary at the point where it passes the aperture 49 and the heat from the are light at this point is intense. The result would be that the film would ignite unless the fire shutter can be dropped by the stopping of the film. It is,

therefore, noted that the shaft I might continue 5 its normal rate of rotation and yet the film would a shaft 58. This wire extends inwardly and then forms substantially arcuate sections as clearly shown in Fig. 10. It is then bent transversely forming an inner part 59 as shown in Fig. 9 and returns following substantially the same configuration as first described. This shaft 58 is rotatably mounted on the framework of the machine and in order to prevent longitudinal displacement it is provided with a channel 58 which receives a pin 5| extending through the framework. This shaft 58 is provided with a lever 52, the lower portion of which is adapted to bear against the end of the slidable pin 38. If, therefore, the film should not be properly fed by the intermittent sprocket 55, the film will pile up beneath the lever 55. The plate 51 acts as a confining means to confine the film beneath the lever 55 for otherwise it might bulge out above the sprocket 5| and not exert its full force on the lever 55. The pressure of this film piling up beneath the lever 55 will raise the same thereby rotating the shaft 58 and moving the lever 52 inwardly as viewed in Fig. '7 or into the position shown in Fig. 8, thereby moving the enlarged ring 38 from the circular aperture 48 and .against the tension of the spring 40 so that the small part of the pin 38 and the end contacting the stop because the intermittent sprocket 55 is not pulling the film by the aperture at its proper velocity. The necessity-of having some film controlled automatic means for controlling the fire shutter is also emphasized by the fact that possibly 'the film might tear in two after it had passed the aperture 49 and before it reachedthe sprocket 55. This accident would likewise leave film extending beyond the aperture 49 not being fed. Regardless of what may be the causeof the film not being fed when the machine is being operated, we have provided means to drop the fire shutter by the piling up of the film fed by the continuously operating sprocket 5|.

If the 'film should not be pulled by the intermittently operated sprocket 5I, the normal loop 53 would be enlarged and the film would pile up beneath a lever 55 and on the loop side of plate 51. The lever 55 is composed of a wire fixed to shutter 4 I lever 52 will be projecting through the slot in the bar 45, thereby releasing the said bar and allowing the fire shutter M to fall by gravity to close the aperture 49.

Regardless of whether the operator quickly stopped the machine or not no fire would result for the shutter is cutting off the beam of light and the heat. He would, of course, stop the machine in order to again place it in an operative condition and when he stopped the machine the shaft I would cease rotating so that the parts operated by the ring governor would assume the position shown in Fig. 9 as heretofore described. The operator in placing the machine in operative condition would, of course, remove the piled up part of the film beneath the lever 55 so that the lever 55 could resume its normal position as shown in Fig. 10 and the lever 52 would be moved against the wall 53 of the machine, thereby releasing the slidable pin 38 so that the spring 40 could move the said pin back into the position shown in Fig. 7, at which time the ring 39 would again be projected into the circular aperture 48 so that the fire shutter could be again raised when the machine was being operated and the shaft I was rotated at its normal velocity. I We have provided a stop 54 (Fig. 5). This stop would limit the upward movement of the shutter but it is not intended that this stop should normally contact the fire shutter or stop its movement. It would be disadvantageous to have the said stop actually engaging the shutter because the slidable pin 38 would then be bound so that it would make it difficult for the lever 52 to actuate it. We, therefore, intend to use the stop 54 simply as a safety stop but we have provided a stop 55 which is engaged by the inner end of the lever 38 positively stopping the said lever be fore the fire shutter has reached the safety stop 54. This prevents any binding of the slidable pin 38 and leaves it free to be operated.

By the above described mechanism it is obvious that if the shaft I is stationary or rotating at a low velocity, the fire shutter will close the aperture 39. When, however, the shaft I is rotating at its normal velocity it would raise the If thereafter, however, the film should be stopped with the shutter up, the film would pile up raising the lever 56 and moving the lever 62 so as to move the slidable pin 38 and thereby move the ring 39 out of the circular aperture 48 so that the slotted part 41 could move over the smaller part of the pin 38 and allow gravity to pull the fire shutter downwardly almost instantly closing the aperture 49. The parts would automatically be reset when the machine is stopped. g

If the ring governor l4 had no depressions such as the holes 26 and 2'! so that the ring was purely symmetrical, itwould be unnecessary to have the finger 9 or the pin i6 for the governor could never assume a position beyond a. vertical plane as viewed in Fig. 1, that is, it could not move from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a position beyond that shown in Fig. 2. The object in making the ring governor unbalanced by cutting away opposite sides or by providing the holes 2% and 2'! is to make the mass of the ring nonsymmetrical. The center of mass would be urged to assume a vertical plane, but as viewed in Fig. 2 this center of mass would be to the right of the line L4 in the upper part of the figure and to the left thereof in the lower part of the figure, so that when the shaft was rotated at its usual operated velocity, the said governor would be inclined to move so that the pin I6 would tend to move'beyond or to the right of the finger 9 and its movement is limited by the pin I6 actually engaging the finger 9 which serves as a stop for the part of the'governor diametrically opposite from the pin I thereby preventing any tendency of the said governor to shift its plane by minute variations in the shaft i.

We realize that many changes may be made in the specific form of the invention which We have shown by illustration merely in the drawings and without departing from the spirit of the invention. We, therefore, desire'to claim the same broadly, except as we may limit ourselves in the appended claims.

Having now described our invention, We claim:

1. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to close an aperture, a lever to which said shutter is secured, a link pivoted to said lever, said link being provided with a slot having an enlarged opening, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, a pin having a shank slidable in said slot and having a head larger than said slot but adapted to be projected into said opening, said pin being slidably mounted in said speed responsive lever, a film controlled lever to push the pin so as to disengage the head from the opening and allowthe shutter to drop to close said aperture when film piles up beneath said lever, the pin sliding down said slot when the shutter is dropped, said film controlled lever being of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin and means including said speed responsive lever to reset the head in the opening.

2. In a motion picture projector, a fire shutter, a lever to which said shutter is secured, a link supporting said lever, said link having a slot having an enlarged opening, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, a slidable pin carried by said speed responsive lever and having an enlarged head to cooperate with said enlarged opening and having a shank adapted to slide in said slot, a spring normally move the head from said opening when film piles up beneath the said film controlled lever so as to release the shutter so that it drops by gravity,

said film controlled lever being of such a length' and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin.

3. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to close a film aperture, a pivoted arm to which said shutter is secured, a link pivoted to said arm, said link being provided with a slot ending. inan enlarged aperture, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, a pin carried by said speed responsive lever, said pin being provided with an enlarged ring thereon, said ring normally projecting into said enlarged aperture, said fire shutter being moved to open said film aperture when the projector is run at normal speed, and a film controlled lever to move said pin so as to remove said ring from said enlarged aperture if film should pile up against said lever, said film controlled lever being of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin.

4. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to close a film aperture, a pivoted arm to which said shutter is secured, a link pivoted to said arm, said link being provided with a hole, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a, speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, a slidable pin carried by said speed responsive lever and provided with a ring, said ring normally extending into said hole, the speed responsive lever serving-as a means to raise said pin and thereby raise said shutter to open said film aperture, and a device operated by film piling up within the projector to remove said ring from said hole so as to release said shutter, said device being of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin.

5. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to close a film aperture, a pivoted arm to whichsaid shutter is secured, a link pivoted to said arm, said link being provided with a slot ending in an enlarged hole, a slidable pin provided with a ring, said ring normally extending into said hole, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, said speed responsive lever carrying said pin and adapted to raise said pin and thereby raise said shutter to open said film aperture and a device operated by film piling up within the projector to remove said ring from said hole so that said pin will be in alignment with said slot so as to release said shutter and permit it to drop by gravity, said device being of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin.

6. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to close a film aperture, 8. pivoted arm to which said shutter is secured, a link pivoted to said arm, said link being provided with a slot ending in an enlarged hole, a slidable pin provided with a ring, a spring urging said ring towards said slot or hole, said ring normally extending into said hole, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a'speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, said speed responsive lever carrying said pin and adapted to raise said pin and ring and thereby raise said shutter to open said film aperture, and a device operated by film piling up within the projector to remove said ring from said hole agianst the tension of said spring so as to release said shutter, said device being of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin.

7. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to close a film aperture, a pivoted arm to which said shutter is secured, a link pivoted to said arm, said link being provided with a, hole, a slidable pin provided with a ring, said ring normally extending into said hole, a shaft having a normal operating speed, a pivoted'speed responsive lever, means to operate said speed responsive lever by any variation in the speed of said shaft, said speed responsive lever carrying said pin, said speed responsive lever serving as a means to raise or lower said pin and thereby raise or lower said shutter to open or close said film aperture, and a device operated by film piling up within the projector to operate said pin to remove said ring from said hole so as to release said shutter, said device being of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of said pin.

8. In a moving picture projector, a fire shutter adapted to open or close a film aperture, a pivoted arm to which said shutter is secured, a linlg pivoted to said arm, said link being provided 4 with a hole, a slidable pin provided with a ring,

said ring normally extending into said hole, a pivoted speed responsive lever carrying said pin near one end of said lever, said pivoted speed responsive lever being bifurcated at its other end forming two fingers, a shaft, an arm carried by said shaft and extending between the fingers, and a speed controlled device to rotate said shaft and arm so as to operate said speed responsive lever and thereby raise or lower said fire shutter, and a device operated by film piling up within the projector to operate said pin to remove said ring from said hole so as to release said. shutter and permit it to drop by grav- 7 said pin.

ity, said device being 'of such a length and so positioned as to overlie said pin in all positions of ALBERT KINDELMANN. EWALD BOECKING. 

